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NWOBHM

Heavy metal is a genre that refuses to die – like the walking dead, it can never rest in the grave. In the early 70s, the rock scene was dominated by giants like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. But then along came punk and traditional rock banks looked a bit lost.

But rock was not dead. It was merely slumbering. Punk rubbed some of its aggressiveness and thrashiness off on to a new generation of rockers and so emerged the NWOBHM. Faster beats, a frenetic pace and audiences that no longer politely sat through gigs.

By 1979, punk had seriously run out of steam. There were some laughable punk-style acts that Sounds magazine tried to convince us were ‘working class’ but in reality were truly awful. I mean, how many times can you say the F-word and shock anybody? Let alone screaming ‘anarchy’. Punk was becoming a parody of itself. New Wave filled the void but didn’t capture the anger and frustration many young people felt as the country tanked into economic meltdown from 1979 to 1981.

So, along came the metal monsters. Rock had returned re-energised. Def Leppard, Motorhead, Saxon and Iron Maiden. Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath, resurrected with the comedic Blizzard of Ozz and the hilarious single Crazy Train. Black Sabbath replaced Ozzie with Ronnie James Dio and released Heaven and Hell.

Ian Gillan, formerly of Deep Purple, clawed his way back with his own eponymous band. Other Deep Purple ex-members re-surfacing included Richie Blackmore with a band called Rainbow and David Coverdale fronting Whitesnake. All these bands popped up in the late 70s coming to prominence at the end of the decade.

So you had new faces and new bands plus the old guard in different guises. AC/DC topped the charts with their album Back in Black while Canada’s Rush brought out Permanent Waves and toured the UK in 1980. Rush were a sort of prog rock band with rock sensibilities.

After 1976, I never thought I’d grow my hair long again but somehow I succumbed for about a year to NWOBHM. Then I lost my virginity and recovered my senses and scuttled as fast as I could away from it.

But for that year, there was a denim jacket adorned with Rush patches and badges. And I will confess to a continuing soft spot for Rush and Motorhead – who both put on amazing gigs back in the day.

In 1980, the Reading Festival was nicknamed the Can Festival – because of the amount of tinnies that hit the stage and spectators. Some were stamped on and thrown like frisbees. These were often violent times at all kinds of gigs. There was a crackle in the air and a lot of discontent. This would all boil over in riots during the summer of 1981. One interesting band at Reading was Girl – a rather camp metal combo with more than a hint of the New York Dolls about them.

NWOBHM was one safety valve for pissed off teenagers to head bang and play air guitars. DJ Tommy Vance on Radio 1 was one of the few outlets that would play the music. Top of the Pops, needless to say, was too busy with Shakatak to notice. After 1981, it all went very mainstream and most of us moved on a little embarrassed to admit we had indulged NWOBHM.

Heavy metal – the beast that will not be slain. Many obituaries have been written for this primordial brand of music yet it resurfaces in different guises over and over again. The start of the 80s saw the emergence of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and a slew of new bands that would dominate the rock scene for years. Here’s a festival poster from 1981.

Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant is humbled by the lunacy of the Tiswas set but handles it very well. Name check for new wave band Landscape at the top of the programme as well as heavy metal die hard Ian Gillan (ex of Deep Purple) and The Cure. There was a bit of a heavy metal revival going on at the start of the 80s – the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) – hence Plant’s appearance I suppose.

Rush mixed lyrics of a ponderously Canadian nature with English whimsical prog rock and never looked back. Their early stuff – ‘Anthem’ and ‘Caress of Steel’ – were horribly thudding metal. But then the trio relocated from their native Canada to Wales and got influenced by the likes of Van Der Graaf Generator.

Drummer Neil Peart was the band’s lyricist and claimed to be influenced by the ‘genius of Ayn Rand’. This political writer was a huge influence on some right wing Americans with a mix of unashamed elitism, worship of capitalism, belief in selfishness, an aggressive individualism and, unusual for American right wingers, atheism. Peart has denied being right wing himself and I believe has even called himself left wing and libertarian. So there you go.

Their middle era albums like ‘Hemispheres’ were very prog rock in their pretentiousness and 2112 had a classic concept story that gobbled up one half of the vinyl. A complete heap of Rand infused guff about a young man trying to rebel against evil communistic priests….oh God, I can’t be bothered to describe the rest of this plot.

But in 1980, Rush decided they’d rather like some pop success. And so out came ‘Permanent Waves’. Short songs like ‘Spirit of Radio’ saw them climb the charts and I nearly fell off the family sofa when they appeared on Top Of The Pops.

During a brief flirtation with NWOBHM – I joined my school mates and went to see them in Hammersmith. Dare I say – I enjoyed the experience. But I’m still kind of ashamed. If people ask which bands I went to see in 1980, I’ll say the Dead Kennedys or The Specials before I say…..Rush.